Products containing meat such as ham, prepared commercially as a spread in a ready-to-eat form for human consumption, are known to be appetizing as well as beneficial. It is known, for example, to subject various fresh meats, including ham, to an initial cure through the application of a mixture of sodium chloride, sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite and sugar. Such conventional curing procedures are usually accomplished either by applying the curing materials in a dry form to the surface of the fresh raw ham and allowing it to remain thereon for at least 30 days, or through the injection of a liquid solution of the curing materials into the structure of the fresh raw ham with retention for lesser periods of time, such as 1 to 2 days.
Such preliminarily treated ham is used in the preparation of ham spread by subsequent treatment at an elevated temperature of at least 137.degree. F. for a limited time period such as 4 to 8 hours to accomplish the desired protein coagulation. Thereafter, such commercial batch operations involve deboning and grinding the ham, adding water to restore the weight lost in processing, and adding various spices and flavorings. The resulting comminuted product is transferred to individual containers after which it is retorted to commercial sterility. Thus, the foregoing conventional batch processing technique involves an initial cure, followed by a series of non-continuous processing steps.